


blood on the walls, blood on the windows.

by roguemutual



Category: Echoturnal, Fang - Fandom, Original Work
Genre: <- kinda??, <- mentioned only rly in beginning, Body Horror, F/F, Gore, Implied Sexual Assault, Implied/Referenced Cheating, M/M, Multi, Murder, Nonbinary Character, Other, Panic Attacks, Sex, Supernatural - Freeform, Trans Character, Trans Female Character, Vampires, Witch - Freeform, mentions of physical abuse, vampire
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-21 16:01:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12461133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roguemutual/pseuds/roguemutual
Summary: — reunions with the love of your life don't matter, only blood, for now, forever and a day.— a side fic for my original books, with a scenario i can see happening between some characters.





	blood on the walls, blood on the windows.

**Author's Note:**

> this may turn into a few chaptered thing but i'm satisfied with how it was left off so?? if you're interested in reading my original works head over to https://fruityfang.tumblr.com ! title may change as well. 
> 
> [ whitebridge; a prison in the book. mi lornas; my sweetness/sweetheart. echoturnal; rare breed of half vampire / half human. ]

“They’re in a _prison_?”

“That’s what two of my contacts have said, yes.” Elise confirms Vincent’s worst fear, he laughs in disbelief and shakes his head. “W-what prison? _Whitebridge_?” The Witch nods, another shot to Vincent.

He sighs loudly, lightly banging his forehead against the beige wall. “You’re going to break my wall. Stop it.” Sounds of heels hitting the wooden floor come to Vincent’s ears, the jingling of keys. He lifts his head up and raises an eyebrow. Elise speaks before he even has a chance to. “Whitebridge burnt down after us, but it had a special facility for noncommon creatures. Specifically for testing.”

-

“My contact has agreed to give you a half an hour, video supervised visit with Savine.” Smoke blows out of Vincent’s mouth, he angrily flicks the ashes onto the ground. “This means they’re alive, Vincent –“

“Yeah, barely. Whitebridge fucking kills you, I’m sure Savine’s doing dandy.” He fires back, spitting on the ground with anger as he then squashes his cigarette under his foot. A hand rests on his shoulder, reassurance – he thinks. “We will think of a plan to get them out, but you need to wait it out.”

The vampire shrugs, a whoosh of wind flies through his raven curls. “I can hang on just fine, let’s worried about the torture subject instead of my nonexistent feelings.”

-

He’s seated in a chair behind a glass window, the room is small and painted white. It looks like a hospital room, but the difference was they don’t treat pain here – they prescribe it. It’s been twenty minutes, finally Elise’s contact – a tall woman with black skin and a long ponytail with bangs that covered her eyes walks in, she holds a chain in her hands that at the end – was connected to a dead looking Echoturnal.

          Savine,

                   A person who once looked so alive, the life slowly drained from their eyes over the years, but now it was gone. The right side of their mouth was torn apart, faded scars around the skin indicated it was recent. Cracks of red that surfaced from their pale skin only when they had scented blood was permanently left there, that could’ve only happened if they were exposed to so much blood and weren’t able to have any.

Their body, frail and slender. They’re dressed in a long white t-shirt and white socks, nothing else. Bruises decorate their knees and upper arms – forearms? Completely naked. Very likely to test their veins, Vincent finds.

“Thirty minutes.” Elise’s contact speaks with a blank English accent. The Vampire nods, then chuckles. “Wait, you can’t see me. Might wanna schedule a hair appointment. But I nodded my head yes.” The sarcasm makes the contact snap her head around. “I would be delicate, vampire. Your lover is in my hands. Thirty minutes.”

-

The contact and Elise leave – with great hesitance, she says she’ll be on the outside as a lookout. This gives both Vincent and Savine privacy – something Savine hasn’t had in months.

“I’m speechless, and not the good type. Not like when I saw you naked for the first time.” He jokes. No sound comes from Savine, not a laugh or protest, they don’t smile or frown, they’re almost a statue. He sighs and scoots the chair closer.

“How long have you been in here? You looked fucked up.” Still, they don’t move. There’s no hint of being scared or angry or happy, they’re obedient. They’ve been trained. “Was this because you killed Colton?”

That - sparks a grin on their scarred to hell face. Their head lifts, and Vincent sees one of their eyes is damaged. It’s left in the state it is only when they were in a bloodthirst form, the white transformed to a red and brown transformed to a black. The other eye was slowly darkening. Quickly, the grin disappears and they instead just make intense eye contact.

It _almost_ hurts Vincent, it reminds him of Ian – his younger brother, how he was so full of life and near the end of his life lost it all. Lost his will for research, his eagerness to study, it was all gone.

“I’ll take that remorseless grin as a yes. So, is this a punishment for killing him.”

Slowly, they shake their head.

“A favor.” Their voice is quiet, not how it was before – but an obedient quiet, as if Vincent had just given them permission to speak.

He raises an eyebrow at the answer. “A favor…”

“Mother.” The one worded answer was enough for Vincent to punch the wall beside the glass wall, Savine flinches a little – and he realizes, there’s still a little bit of them before Whitebridge was left in there. “She did this to you? Put you in here?” He lowers his voice, realizing the high volume may have set them off.

“What Jodi wants, Jodi gets.”

“I’m going to get you out of here, I-“ Savine shakes their head. “No.” His brow raises at the unexpected one worded answer, he chuckles with disbelief. “You… don’t want to get out of here?” He shrugs, pursing his bottom lip. “This isn’t exactly the oceans of Nelu, mi lornas.”

“I’ll die.”

“You know I won’t –“

“My mother.” They interrupt. “Leave.” They repeat. Wrinkles form on Vincent’s forehead as his eyebrows knit together, one raising. “Your mother won’t do jack shit, I won’t let her.”

Savine shakes their head – faster this time. “She’s done too much.”

“Sav, I can’t help you if you don’t want reassurance.”

“Don’t give me false hope.” They beg. “Please,” There’s a raw sadness in their one clear eye, the other is one of a killer. Seeing the red makes Vincent think of blood, his stomach _almost_ sinks when he thinks of how long it must’ve been since Savine had the pleasure of sipping blood. He decides to ask. “When was the last time you had blood? Judging from your…” He pauses, choosing his next words carefully. “… _new_ fashion statements,” he decides. “it’s been a while, no?”

The Echoturnal nods. “I’ve been on probation.” The answer sparks curiosity in Vincent who leans forward. “Probation for what? Not being human?”

“There was a little boy, he was bleeding. I attacked him and had a few sips of his blood before being pulled back.” They chuckle – not in humor, but almost in a way of being sad. “I suppose whatever hope I had to be human is delayed.”

Vincent scoffs and rolls up his black sleeve up to his elbow and he cocks his head slightly. “Move your body a little.”

“Why-“ They’re interrupted with a loud **_CRASH_** and sounds of glass shards hitting the marble floor. Small cuts immediately form into Vincent’s knuckles, he looks at them fondly before watching them fade into the same brown skin from second before. “Hope the glass didn’t cut you, sweetness.” He says with no remorse as he feels his fangs peek out of his gums and slowly grow out, tasting the familiar pain and blood that fills his mouth. It’s familiar, it’s a feeling he knows.

His fangs sink into his brown skin, his eyes change from hazel on white to red on black – and they stay in contact with Savine’s, who watches with jealousy. But they don’t look away. Tongue meets skin, and licks up the blood on his own arm. Vincent then sneaks the naked half of his arm through the shattered hole.

“We have about 10 minutes left. Drink.” He commands, leaning his back forward. Savine’s eyebrows raise and eyes dart from his wrist to his face then to the door where Elise’s contact walked out. They fight with the demon and angel on their shoulders. “Vincent –“

“You’ve already said the idea of you being human is out the window.” He offers his wrist once more. “So seal the contract. Take a bite, _baby bat_.” His voice goes low, a smile curves on his lips when he says the last two words.

Familiar words, Savine looks up as they hesitantly bring their hands to his wrist.

_“Knew you weren’t human.” Vincent whistles as he watches Savine immediately spring their head back and gasp, splatters of blood fly in the air. The victim lays there, hesitant sobs turn hysterical when Savine gets off, tears resume streaming down. They were saved from death today._

_Vincent chuckles and steps down and walks over to the victim who tries to scramble up. “What kind of vampire are you?” Vincent scolds and sighs out of annoyance, grabbing the victim’s lavender shirt and yanks them to him, he flashes a grin – then snaps their neck._

_“ **VINCENT!** ” _

_“That’s my name.” He shoots back, standing back up and quickly glances to the floor. “Sorry about the mess, Jodi probably will be pissed by that. As she should be.”_  
  


_“Excuse me? You just walk into my home and kill somebody, leave a mess and start spewing crap.” Savine raises an eyebrow at the vampire’s actions and slowly, they begin to rock back and forth on their heels. He shakes his head and crosses his arms. “I’m not here to lecture you about the mess. I’m here to lecture you on being a shitty vampire, you **never** let your victim live.” _

_“I-“ He interrupts them. “What are you? Some new vampire? Mommy turn you because she can’t stand to be without her baby?” He attempts to keep a serious face, but Savine knows he’s about to laugh with the quick puff of his cheeks and the loud laughter that travels out of it. “I take it you don’t enjoy my mother.”_

_“Mama’s a little bitch, baby bat.” The nickname has Savine’s eyes squinting and watches Vincent as he walks right past them. “Baby bat?” They repeat, questioningly._

_He nods. “You’re a baby, bats are annoying.”_

_“Annoying!?”_

_“Maybe a little cool.”_

Vincent’s brought back to the present when he feels Savine sink their fangs into his skin and harshly suck, he watches the red veins that crack their pale skin become a fresher red and form fully, the grip they have gets stronger as they finally sip freedom.

Blood keeps going down their throat, Vincent watches attentively. He makes no move to stop them, he understands this is what they need.

Even when the door opens, he makes no move to stop. He does look over his shoulder – and sees Elise walk in. Her hands are shoved in her light brown coat pockets, the coat itself goes to midthigh. “Vincent – What the bloody hell are you doing?!” She starts calm, then into a panic and runs over, quickly yanking Vincent’s wrist away despite Savine’s strong grasp.

“Okay, that was –“

Elise slaps Vincent straight across the face, the smack echoes. She leans down and hisses in his ear. “You _idiot_!”

“Everyone tells me to help people, I help somebody and suddenly I’m an idiot?” He raises his eyebrows and sucks in a breath. “You guys make this not being a serial murderer really, really hard.”

“You didn’t just save a lot of witches being drowned, Vincent. Savine has been trained to resist blood, by you helping them relapse has brought all of that training to waste.”

“I don’t know about you, but looking at them _almost_ horrifies me.”  

“I can hear you two, you know.” Elise and Vincent glance up and Elise sighs. “You can’t relapse, this one screw up could fuck up your time here.”

“You say that as if they’re going to be here any longer.” Vincent interrupts, earning a glare from his friend. “They have to stay. They were sentenced here.” A lightbulb goes off in Elise’s head, she shoots her eyes back to Savine. “Why are you here? In this Whitebridge facility?”

“I killed my husband.” Savine confesses. “My mother found out, and turned me in and confessed I was an Echoturnal.”

Elise’s eyebrows raise and she’s impressed – with the stunned look she wears. “You’re the Echoturnal. The last one.”

Savine shrugs. “Because of that, I’m here.” Elise nods and stands back up, anxiously tugging his sleeve. “Vincent, we have to –“

Before she can finish, the same contact steps into the room. She ignores the glass on the floor, Savine’s tongue quickly darts out and licks the blood that sits on their lips and down their chin. The taste they try not to savor, but the way the blood blooms their taste buds makes them savor it for longer than they should have.

“Your thirty minutes is up.” Savine stands, swings their hands behind their back – and awaits for the chains to secure them once more. Vincent watches with a blank look, he remembers the cold from the rust chains on his naked wrists and neck. The brown rust on the chains he will always remember, remember how they always connected and for the longest time – he felt he _was_ apart of the chains.

Shaking his head, he gets up out of his chair in such a rush that the chair falls over and he looks away from Savine. “It was a pleasure, Elise. If you require further assistance, you know how to reach me. But next time,” The guard kicks a glass shard across the small room. “Try not to let your friend make a mess.”

“Give us a room without glass next time.”

“Can’t risk it. Echoturnal could really hurt your friend.” Elise laughs. “Vincent doesn’t break easily, your concern is noted though.”

“And tossed in the trash!” Vincent calls out as he walks straight out of the isolated building, not able to escape fast enough before he hears Savine’s emotional plea.

“Check on Constance!”

-

Elise kicks her heels off, not caring as they landed on the floor on their sides which earns her a groan from Vincent who goes and fixes so they stood straight and right beside each other. “That was an exhausting day.”

Vincent shoots an idea as he walks straight to the kitchen. “Why don’t we,” He pauses to grab a bottle of Scotch and two glasses, then looks over his shoulder. “Drown out today with some adult juice.”

Elise raises an eyebrow at the ‘juice’ which Vincent reveals a few seconds later when he turns around to be Scotch then fondly, she rolls her eyes. “Are you ever going to find a healthy coping mechanism?” The vampire rolls his eyes and pours the glass up to half full of Scotch, downs a quick sip then delivers a reply. “I’m _coping.”_  

“I’ll cope for today then. One glass.”

“Two.” Vincent negotiates while pouring her drink. She watches the penny colored drink fill up to a little more than half, a little devil on her shoulder tells her she should get wasted for the hell of it. The angel on her shoulder advises her to do the same thing – but just to forget, even for a few hours.

Seeing Savine in the same position, maybe even the same chains as her and Vincent were once in for ten years – it makes her sick.

“Make it three.”

“Done deal.” A glass of Scotch slides down the counter to Elise who reaches over and grabs it, some drops spill from the harsh grab. “So,” Elise begins.

“So.” Vincent repeats. He rests his hand on the counter then goes to rest his body weight on the counter. “Who’s Constance?” The witch swishes her Scotch around in the glass, awaiting an answer.

“Savine’s little sister.”

“How young?”

Vincent shrugs. “10, I think. Something like that, little gremlin age.”

-

“You’re – hic! Such a lightweight.” Vincent laughs as he sits back and his chair. “Am not!” She giggles, stumbling as she tries to walk over to him. “I – can’t – hic! Find good – hic! Music.”

A lightbulb goes off in Elise’s head as Vincent searches for music on her phone. “Why the – hic! Fuck do you have only jazz…. Gospel….. classicy – hic! Music?” Elise’s eyes light up and she smacks Vincent’s shoulder.

“Let’s call L-Luciel!”

Vincent raises a brow. “Like… prank call?”

Elise eagerly nods her head and her lips pull into a large grin. “Yes.”

-

“In here, Echoturnal.”

_This is a different cell._

“You’re in here until we can transfer you to another hall. Supervision is for 15 minutes every hour.” The guard informs them as he fumbles with his set of keys, eventually finding the one to unlock the cell.

A loud creak echoes from the cell, it was difficult for the guard to hide his wince. _So much for being a tough son of a bitch._ “Be prepared for any surprise inspections.” Savine walks into the cell and feels the cold of the chains leave their wrists. When the guard locks the cell door, giving it a small shake to make sure the door wouldn’t open when he leaves.

The moment he leaves, Savine rubs their wrists to ease the ache that begun to pressure the skin. Their tastebuds bloom with the taste and ache for blood once more.

The floor is cold – but they sit, and think of the long-awaited reunion.

Not just with Vincent, but with _blood_.

-

They think the night is young, then night transfers to morning and they wake up with groans and slight regrets from the night before. Elise yawns and rubs her eyes; her headache doesn’t shy away. “You… are a terrible influence.” She stands with some trouble, stumbling over.

Vincent’s lips pull into a sly, tired grin. “You said three. Which turned into five, you encouraged it.” Elise spins her head to give a glare to the vampire. Her hair was poofed to the sides, pink curls emphasized. Bags hung under her eyes, there was a bruise that laid upon her cheek when she hit it against the coffee table.

-

Creaks echo from the cell door as it opens, the screeching sounds bang against Savine’s ears and they slowly open their eyelids, only to shut them a millisecond later because of the unexpected brightness.

“Get up.” _That voice._

Although the body was weak, Savine still scrambles to quickly get up and prevents the brightness by squinting their eyes. They grab the brick wall and bring themselves up, standing and finally turn their head to greet – Jodi. Their mother. The reason they were in here.

She stands there dressed in loose black jeans and a white v-neck shirt. She wears tall black heels, although tall – Savine knows their mother could run a hundred miles in there if she wanted to.

Her face is unimpressed with eyelids have closed, a raised eyebrow and lips curved down. “No greeting for your savior? Ungrateful.” She chuckles and it sends shivers down Savine’s spine. A gulp sneaks down their throat and they make their spine stand tall. “Why are you here?”

“You have served your time. I believed you’ve learned –“

Savine interrupts. “I haven’t learned anything.”

“You’ve learnt to take shit from no man.”

“And you punished me for that. Please leave.” Mother shakes her head. “You’re coming home, Savine. Where you belong.”

-

Cards flick onto the table, one has a set of six fish, the second two witches and the third, one vampire. “You’re into Kwestelak?” Elise picks up in a card and sounds impressed. Constance grins and nods. “I want to be a witch!”

“What the fuck is Kwestalak?” Vincent groans and flicks another card – three veins. Elise slaps his hand. “Can you try to avoid profanity in front of the 10 year old?”

Constance ignores Elise’s scolding and begins to explain Kwestalak. In between her fingers, she holds three cards. “Kwestalak is a storytime for witches. To tell them how their futures will go, what their pasts mean, and could even tell you who some important people are!”

“And this is a Witch only game?” Constance nods eagerly. “It’s used with magic! I sometimes pretend though, momma’s used to have her witch friend here who sometimes played Kwestalak with me.”

Used to, the past tense had Vincent and Elise exchanging glances. “Did the Witch friend move out?”

Constance shakes her head. “No, Momma –“ Her lips quickly shut after saying ‘momma.’ Eyes went wide, but then sunk back in, eyebrows fall to look almost sad. “I… I don’t know what happened to Nisa.” Elise slides a hand over and gently placed it over the clearly traumatized child’s. She offers a sympathetic smile. “Sweetie, you can tell us what happened. I promise you’ll be okay.”

Constance winces. “Momma hurts people who don’t listen to her.”

“She won’t hurt you, I promise.” The witch lies through her teeth, Vincent’s mouth turns to a grim line, and he looks away – trying to look anywhere that will drain the words he hears.

_“She won’t hurt you, I promise.” Vincent promises. He grabs his bottle of water and downs a huge sip. “Maybe you’re right, I just know with each day I don’t come home she gets angrier.” They shudder as they reach for one of their dirty t-shirts. “And hungrier.”_

_“Make sure you have enough blood to carry your pretty little ass back here.” He kisses their right temple, allows his lips to linger for a few seconds before snaking his arm around their stomach. Savine chuckles and pats Vincent’s arm with their hand. “Be somewhat of a gentleman and carry me back.”_

_“Deal.” He promises before letting go and walks over to the front door, opening it for Sav. They grab the plastic bag of the few articles of clothing they have and walk out the front door._

_Not – before giving him a little goodbye present._

_Vincent is pinned against the door with Savine’s body against his chest, forcing him against the wooden door. He chuckles and allows a hand to return to their hip and the other against their cheek. A smile creeps onto Savine’s face as they lean onto Vincent and allow their lips to touch his._

_It starts off with a ghosting, then Vincent allows himself to return the kiss which completes it, makes it deep._

_Eventually – they separate. The ghosting of their lips returns, and Savine whispers a promise for only the two of them to hear. “I’ll come back for you.”_

_“You better.” Vincent almost growls. “It’d be a shame if I didn’t have baby bat here.”_

_-_

_Sobs came out in broken notes from Savine’s mouth. Hands clutch at the bandages that hug their torn pale skin, ripped into hours earlier from fangs. “ **SHE’S COMING TO GET ME!”** Vincent slowly kneels to the wooden floor, as if he was surrendering._

_Savine shakes their head, eyes shut so they were in their own world. “Listen – Sav, I’m not as ugly as your mother. I’m not her, I promise.” He does little to soothe, as tears start to river down Savine’s cheeks. The screams ease, their jaw hangs open. “You can scream-“_

_“Stop, shut up. Stop.” Savine begs, continuing to claw at their bandages. Small tears form and the slices from fangs appear. Vincent shakes his head and reaches his hand out. “Hey – I worked hard on those bandages. I’m not some nurse.”_

_“J-just go.”_

_“Yes, because I’m going to leave my - … friend bleeding out to death on the floor, screaming, giving me a headache-“_

_“THEN LEAVE!!” They scream, spit flies out of their mouth and lands on the floor. Rawness forms in their throat, it crawls through their tear-filled eyes._

_Vincent then stands – and walks out with hands shoved into his pockets._

_But he keeps a close eye, and pays a visit to the woman who rules hells doors._

“…and Momma hung her against my door.” Constance points a finger to the open door to her bedroom, small blood stains remained. “Her blood is still there.” Constance nods and the grip on her cards gets firmer. “Please don’t tell momma I told you – she said I would be Nisa.” Her voice was full of fright, but Elise finds not as much fright as there should be for a young child.

Going against her gut instinct, she ignores it. “She won’t hurt you, I promise.” She ruffles Constance’s honey hair. A smile crawls on her face. “Why don’t we play a quick game of Kwestalak? I’ll show you how a witch does it.” Elise offers, Constance’s face bursts with brightness and she nods.

-

“You look more youthful the last time I saw you.” Jodi and Savine step out of the Whitebridge facility, escorted with five heavily armed guards. They’re escorted through the back, where no naked eye could see. “I guess being imprisoned and experimented on makes you look younger.” Jodi laughs.

There was a heavy breeze, it hits their dark brown hair and some strands fly free, leaves fall from the trees. Orange, red and yellow paints the world – they had been inside for a long time.

They begin to walk towards Jodi’s car. “You know I did this to teach you a lesson –“ Jodi starts then is interrupted with a finger pointed in her face. A _daring move_.  “ _Don’t._ None of this was ever about Colton, it was about you getting control over me again.”

Jodi’s dark eyebrows raise, mouth curves to a frown – clearly unimpressed. “I’m going to let that go, because you just got out so maybe you don’t remember who gave you life and everything else you have accomplished. But if you slip up again,” She grabs the driver’s door and swings it open with clear anger. “- I won’t be as merciful. Do we understand?”

They don’t hesitate with a nod. “Yes, I’m sorry.” Her smile returns, it brings familiar shivers down the Echoturnal’s spine.

“There’s a spare outfit in the back for you. Please change out of that hideous attire.” Savine looks down and sees they were still just dressed in the white t-shirt , a pair of underwear and heavy boots.

-

“You are now graced with two different coats of protection.” Elise explains, setting down the cards and Constance watches attentively the white magic that surrounds her go back into the palm of the Witch’s hand. “You have Mercy and Namira’s coat and the first ever witch’s as well.”

The little girl squeals. “I love her!”

Elise opens her mouth to deliver a reply, but she’s stopped when a screech intrudes her ears. Both her and Constance pay their attention to Vincent who pushes the chair back into the table. “Vincent –“

“It’s time we get going.” A half assed smile pulls his lips up. “Thanks…” His words trail off, Elise and Constance wait for a reply. Vincent shakes his head. “Thanks for having us here.” He doesn’t bother waiting for a response before walking towards the front door, yanking his coat off the coat rack.

Elise lays her cards down and organizes them to have one in front of the other, yet the designs on them still visible. “It was nice to meet you, nolena. Thank you.” Constance – attempts – to raise an eyebrow at the unheard nickname.

“Nolena?” She repeats.

“Nolena means _little witch_.”

That makes Constance’s whole day.

-

“You’ll be having dinner with us tonight.” Jodi announces as Savine slides on a pair of black sunglasses to shield their destroyed eye from other eyes. “Alright.”

Jodi glances over at her child. They changed from the clothes they had worn for the past year and dressed in black jeans and hoodie with the same color. Savine was also given shoes, a white pair of running shoes they had worn a few years before. “Do you not want to know who ‘us’ is?”

 _Of course. Why would I expect a small family dinner?_ “I’m sorry, I didn’t know we would be having guests.”

“Your in laws are coming for dinner.” Savine’s eyebrows shoot up, their eyes nearly pop out of their sockets and jaw hangs open. They snap their head to look over at their mother. “ ** _WHAT_**?!”

“You owe them an apology. Colton was their child. His mother snapped her hips open for him, spent years teaching him the basics of life.” Jodi stops the car calmly at the red light and gives her complete attention to her child. She wore an unamused by the sudden shout of shock. “Until you took that away from them. With just two minutes, a whiskey bottle and hunger.” A ‘tsk’ sound leaves her mouth. “You couldn’t go to some club and pick somebody up just to drink blood? You had to kill your husband. Should’ve thought like that one Caslova boy.”

Savine knows who she’s talking about, the Caslova sibling that would go out and seek prey who consent to sleep with him, then he drinks them dry and leaves their body to be discovered by another victim. _Vincent Caslova_.

The heart beats fast, but their face continued wearing a blank look.

Jodi waits a minute or two before speaking again, giving Savine a chance to speak. “Not in the mood to talk about your lover boy?”

Savine hesitates. “He was very vocal with threats to anybody who hurt you –“

“ _We weren’t lovers_.” Jodi nods and adjusts the rearview mirror. “What were you?” She asks.

Savine shrugs. “Friends.”

“Friends who sometimes slept together.” Jodi corrects, Savine groans. “Did it ever bother you he went out to sleep with women, men while he was fucking you?”

Savine grows to be uncomfortable with the personal nature of the questions. He wasn’t having sex with anyone when they had a thing, he would lure people with the promise of sex – but then he would break their necks and suck them dry. Or, at least that was what he had told them. “No, it never bothered me.”

“Why is that? I’d be jealous.” _You wouldn’t have time to be jealous before you killed him._

Leaves fly past the windows as Savine gazes out. “We weren’t in love or anything, he could go do what he wanted and I could do what I wanted.”

“But you didn’t.” Jodi reminds them.

“No, I didn’t.”

“Or, what you wanted was him. And you couldn’t have him.” She over analyzes, she thinks Vincent went out and did all these things with other people while Savine waits at home for him to give them the smallest amount of affection. Vincent was nobodys, Savine was nobodys. They just melted together almost like a puzzle piece.

“I didn’t want him.” A lie. “I got married to Colton – that’s what I was wanting at the time.” Savine looks away from the window and to their mother. “Now, can you please stop asking questions about him? He’s out of my life.”

-

Jodi brushes Savine’s dark hair back, brings it up with her fingers and transforms it into a tight, elegant bun with only a single strand that hangs from the side. They gaze into the mirror, seeing their mother concentrate on making their hair look nice. In between her teeth, kept in a soft bite was a bobby pin.

Their mother may have used them as a blood bag – beat them if they refuse to cooperate or simply because it made her feel stronger, or it was a bad day, or the wind happened to blow right instead of left. This was a strange moment of something close to bonding for them.

“My mother always did my hair when I was younger.” Jodi begins. “Until my father spat in her face and after that,” she tugs Savine’s hair. “- She never did my hair again. She always did hers.”

Savine stays silent, but listens. “One day, my father spat in her face.” She loops a strand of Savine’s hair into their bun. “And she took a knife, he thought she was going to kill him.” Goosebumps bloom when they feel Jodi’s fingertips run over the skin.

“Did grandmother kill him?”

“No.”

“So, she just threatened him?”

“No.”

“What happened?” Savine was now intrigued. The next sentence that slips out sparks a memory in Savine’s mind. “She killed herself.”

Silence. For 5 minutes, until Jodi swifts the topic to a different one. “You’re going to apologize. You’re going to do an old vampire ritual we used since the days when I was a girl, to apologize to all those as you have shamed your kind.”

Savine doesn’t question the instructions.

-

A candle sits in the middle of the room. Savine sits on their knees with their hands placed on top of their white clothed thighs. Their eyes, binded with black that twists around their whole head. Matilda cringes when she sees the flames light reveal the silver needle that pierces through their skin, connected to the needle – string that leads to another needle pierced through their top to bottom lip, then wraps around their wrist and connects to the candle.

“What in Namira’s eight dooms is this?!”

Jodi calmly answers. “It’s an old ritual vampires use to ask the first vampires for forgiveness.”

Matilda raises a confused brow. “Colton informed Linel and I that Savine was an Echoturnal, that was the whole point for this marriage.”

Savine starts to speak. “I was accepted among the vampire species because of my mother, who is one of the first vampires.”

“Let’s begin it. Savine is eager for forgiveness.”

-

Linel and Matilda sit side by side and hold each other’s hands. Savine sits in front of the candle and begins speaking of their sin. “I am responsible of the death of your son.” Linel inhales sharply at the confession. “Say his name.” She begs softly.

Savine hesitates, but lets his name slip. “Colton Calems.”

“How did he die?”

“I smashed a bottle of whiskey over his head, which made him fall unconscious. Then I snapped his neck, the snapping of his neck is what killed him. Since your species is sensitive to that.” They pause. “And yes, I knew this prior to killing him.”

Matilda sniffles and her words choke in her throat. “W-Why… Savine, why?”

“Colton and I had many issues, I killed him because I felt his issues weighed more than mine and it had taken a toll on me.” Jodi rolls her eyes and clenches her teeth. “What issues, Savine?”

“Colton was unfaithful to me throughout our marriage.”

_“You’re so fucking beautiful.” Vincent whispers as he shoves Savine down on the mattress. His hand slides up their arm and grabs at their hand, bringing it up to his face. His eyes glance at the silver ring with a ring gem in the middle that rested on their left engagement finger. “Man’s taking away my lornas, I’m taking away your ring.”_

_“You know he means nothing.” Savine reassures as they watch Vincent wrap his lips around Savine’s finger and traps the ring in a soft bite, sliding it off slowly while maintaining eye contact._

_For a few seconds, the vampire holds the silver ring between his teeth in the soft bite. Then, he opens his mouth and drops the ring to the wooden floor next to the bed. “You’re so lucky I don’t love this guy.” Savine jokes as they feel Vincent’s lips softly press to just behind their ear._

_“Life would be boring.”_

_“Mm.”_

_“You need me.”_

_“Or I need this sex.” Savine laughs, Vincent chuckles softly and raises a sly brow. “And I need your terrible lying habits.”_

“Colton demanded sex from me over and over.”

_He rests his face in his hands, groaning when he hears Savine’s voice. “This marriage was a goddamn contract!” They remind him with a shout._

_Colton removes his hand and shoots a glare at Savine. “Are you truly thinking we shouldn’t attempt to be a married couple?”_

_“What part of I’m using you do you not understand?” He squints and raises a knowing brow. “Then, I should be able to use you in return.” He offers._

_Savine scoffs. “What are you talking about?”_

_“If you’re using me, I get to use you –“_

_“Stop talking in riddles! Get to your fucking point!” Savine shouts as they throw their half empty glass of water against the floor. Shatters of glass slide on the floor, water pools on the floor. They whip their glare to Colton who wastes no time in shoving them against the counter._

_“You want to use me for humanity?” He chuckles, the unbuckling sounds make Savine internally cringe. “I get to use you for warmth. You know how winter gets.”_

“He said I was his warmth.” Savine hides the shudder. “From that event forward, I was cold.”

Colton’s mothers gasp in horror. “H-He… No!”

“Your son was not absolutely to blame in the situation.” Savine swipes their finger through the flame and holds back a hiss of pain from the pain that burns their skin. “I wasn’t defenseless.”

_Within seconds, Savine transitions from the terrified, submissive young Echoturnal to the vampire who cared for nothing but guarding themselves. Colton was against the wall, held with inhumane strength. With an inhumane speed, Savine grabs his unbuckled belt from the loops and wraps it around his throat,_

_and pulls with as much strength as their vampiric blood would allow. _

_In that moment, Savine was a young teenager strangling their mother._

_That forces them to pull harder, veins raise to the surface of their skin. The body angers and fangs force themselves out._

_They are the predator._

_They feel Jodi’s wrath finally has caught up with them._

Savine’s ear picks up a sound of soft sobs. Linel can’t see her son being the terrible person his spouse describes him to be. She asks; “Why…” Her thoughts are in pieces, come crumbling. “What was…”

Matilda pats Linel’s hand sympathetically. “What was the reason _our_ son was killed? What had he _done_?”

A confession crawls up Savine’s throat. It aches to come out, whether to taunt and torture or just to come clean, that remained a mystery. “I was… I wasn’t in any danger.”

No reply.

“I just killed him. Then came to my mother.”

“ _Why_? He only ever tried –“  Savine’s tone got firmer, anger blossoms in their stomach and they shoot a second confession that would _ruin_ his mothers.

“It was a decision I made…” They pause. “It was planned – not for several months, just a few minutes? 10 maybe?” They think for a moment before shaking their head. “It doesn’t matter. It was a decision I don’t regret.”

“W….W-Why?” They don’t deliver an answer immediately, instead they take a moment to think. Slowly, they slide the needles out from their face and undo the blindfold that blinded their eyes and drop them all to the floor.

“Because it was a decision that set me free.” Not even two seconds after the confession they let slip, they tip over the candle and watch it slowly burn the floor.

-

Two days pass, news of the burning mansion travels to Vincent.

“The ValenVeils mansion _burnt down_?” He asks with disbelief. Elise nods her head. “Its all burnt to ash.” Elise rocks back and forth on her heels, unable to stay still. She watches as Vincent’s lips change from a statue gape to a grim line.

“They couldn’t…” He’s unable to finish his thoughts. Elise understands and inhales a sharp breath. “Were there bodies?” He asks quietly, grabbing the bottle of Scotch and pours it to the brim of his glass to the point where it overflowed.

The witch stiffens their back and stands straight, then makes her way over to Vincent who stared at the wall in a daze, and grabs the Scotch bottle. Small drops drip from the edge of the counter.

When she doesn’t answer, Vincent grabs onto her sweater sleeve and tugs on it anxiously. “Elise, were there any fucking –“

“Yes.” She answers. Her jaw was clenched, her grip on the scotch bottle gets firmer.  


End file.
